CBI says can't file any final report in coal cases

The CBI on Monday told a special court that it would not file further final reports for the time being in any coal blocks allocation scam case as the Supreme Court has restrained it from doing so.

Special Public Prosecutor R S Cheema told Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar that the agency was ready with its supplementary final report in the case involving Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Darda and others but there was an embargo of the apex court.

"We cannot file supplementary final report for the time being as there is an embargo of the Supreme Court. So it would not be appropriate to file it," Cheema said.

On being asked by the court if there was a bar on filing supplementary reports also, the prosecutor said the apex court had made an oral observation that the agency should not file any charge sheet or closure report in the coal scam cases until further orders.

The special court was hearing the case in which CBI had named in its charge sheet Vijay Darda, his son Devendra Darda, Manoj Jayaswal, director of Nagpur-based AMR Iron and Steel Pvt Ltd, and the firm as accused for offences under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) read with 420 (cheating) of the IPC and under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The Supreme Court had on September 19 asked the CBI not to take any final decision on any case arising out of multi-crore coal scam after serious allegations were levelled against its Director Ranjit Sinha for protecting some accused.

The court had earlier granted bail to the three accused after they had appeared before it in pursuance to the summons issued against them.

Vijay Darda, Devendra, Jayaswal and the firm were named as accused in the charge sheet filed by CBI on March 27 in which it had alleged that they had fraudulently acquired the coal blocks. They have denied the allegations levelled against them by CBI.

Regarding AMR Iron and Steel Pvt Ltd, CBI had claimed in its FIR that the firm, in its application form for allocation of coal blocks, had "fraudulently" concealed the fact that its group firms had previously been allocated five coal blocks.

Detailing the allocation of coal blocks to AMR Iron and Steel Pvt Ltd, the agency had said the Ministry of Coal invited applications for allocation of coal blocks, including Bander coal block in Maharashtra having geological reserve of 126.105 million metric tonnes (MMT).

CBI had said that the 36th Screening Committee, which was headed by the Coal Secretary, after concluding its deliberations on July 3, 2008, had recommended allocation of Bander coal block jointly to J K Cement Ltd, M/s Century Textiles and Industries Ltd and AMR Iron and Steel Pvt Ltd for their proposed plants in Karnataka and Maharashtra respectively.